Mental-health therapist Robin Chancer, and Taggart Long, Firefighter/Paramedic, will discuss mental health, first-aid and other intervention strategies based on research and real-world experience in helping traumatized victims. You’re invited to attend: Sunday the 23rd @ 12pm East Standard Time. Join the webinar here. Among the topics Robin and Taggart (Frontline’s training director) will cover: • Robin will discuss research on trauma in the aftermath of 9/11. Specifically, she’ll focus on studies of those who participated in debriefing sessions right after a traumatic event (“critical incident stress debriefing”) and fared worse than those who did not. What we’ve learned from debriefings can inform how we respond to people undergoing a highly stressful event. The focus now is on “psychological first-aid” for victims.

• How to promote a sense of safety: initiate contacts in a non-intrusive, compassionate manner. Help the person become as safe as possible, and state as much.

• How to promote calming: comfort, grounding, stabilization.

• How to gather info on current needs and concerns

• Offer practical assistance, meet basic needs

• How to promote a sense of self-efficacy: offer positive coping ideas, notice things the person is doing or has done well.

• How to improve connectedness with activists: linking social supports & resources